Carton opening machine



' June 18, 1957 E. E. SHIMER CARTON OPENING MACHINE Filed March so, 1956m Q TEII m mll United States Patent CARTON OPENING MACHINE Ernest E.Shimer, Kokomo, Ind.

Application March 30, 1956, Serial No. 575,013

Claims. (Cl. 30-2) This invention relates to machines fornon-destructively open1ng paper board cartons, particularly cartonswhich must be opened to permit inspection of the contents thereof andwhich must be again closed. Commonly, cartons containing taxablemerchandise are opened, tax stamps are applied to the contents, and thecartons then closed.

Cigarette cartons, for example, of the size and type containing tenpackages of cigarettes, have in the past been cut open along one side toexpose the ends of the packages to which tax stamps are applied.Conveniently, the corner edges of the panel, under which the tuck-flapis found, are ripped and the now free panel and the tuckflap are foldedback, exposing the ends of the cigarette packages. Generally, thecartons are pushed past a stationary knife blade for cutting the corneredges mentioned and then moving the cartons longitudinally of two longcurved steel straps for catching the loosened flaps and swinging theflaps open and against the sides of the carton. After inspection, orafter the application of tax stamps to the exposed ends of the packages,the flaps are returned to their original positions and glued closed.

Two serious shortcomings of such a machine are found. First, theconsiderable swing of the two flaps is difircult to control during highspeed travel of the cartons. A protruding corner of one flap willoccassionally catch on the guides or stamping machine and damage thecarton and jam the machine. Second, there are are considerablequantities of dust and lint raised from the soft paper board by thecutting blade, which dirt and lint rides through to the stampingmachine, mixes with the ink. and clogs the rubber stamps.

The object of this invention is an improved machine fornon-destructively opening cartons for inspection, for reliably and athigh speeds folding back the flap of the carton, and for removing dirtand lint during the cutting and folding operations.

The objects of this invention are realized by a machine for opening onepanel of cantons having two overlapping flaps hinged respectively alongopposite side edges of said panel, comprising a stationary knife forcutting through the end edges as the carton is propelled lengthwise intothe knife, and curling rails for successively swinging the flaps abouttheir respective hinges; an elongated hood over the knife, curling railsand cartonpropelling mechanisms; an air pump with a filter, said hoodhaving an air-inlet port and an air-outlet port on opposite sides of thehood and on a level generally with said flaps, said ports communicatingrespectively with the inlet and outlet openings of said pump to move airacross said flaps to hold the flaps in folded-back position and toremove airborne dirt and lint.

Other features and objects of this invention will occur to those skilledin the art by referring to one specific embodiment of the inventiondescribed in the following specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Patented June 18, 1957 ICC Fig. l is a plan view, partly in section, ofthe carton opening machine of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side-elevation of the machine of Fig. 1, and

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are respectively sectional views taken on lines 33, 4--4 and 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The machine shown in Fig. 1 is specifically designed for opening cartonsof a size and shape often-pack cigarette cartons. It is to beunderstood, of course, and will readily appear hereinafter, that theprinciples of the machine shown are by no means limited to the specificcarton size and shape mentioned.

In the plan view of Fig. 1 is seen the narrow side panel 10 of such acarton, the various panels of the carton be ing scored and folded atright angles, as is well known in the box-making art. The panel 10 isjoinedby a scored-fold 9 to the wide flat side of the panel and by thescored-fold 12 to the end panel of the carton. The tuck-flap 11 isslidably inserted under the panel 10 and is score-folded to the otherwide side of the carton. According to this invention, the knife 20 cutsthrough the corners 12 at one end, moves between the panel 10 and thetuck-flap 11 to the other end, and finally cuts the second end edgecorner.

The carton moves through the machine of Fig. 1 substantially along thepath defined by the two dotted lines 13 and 14. Guide rails, not shown,closely hold the carton to this path. The straight flat knife blade 20is mounted on the end of post 21. The position of the blade toaccommodate cartons of varying heights is adjustable by longitudinalmovement of the post 21. Vertical power-driven rollers 22 and 23frictionally engage the side panels of the carton and propel itforwardly.

Immediately after the knife blade 20 cuts through the corner 12 andpasses under the panel 10, the panel is lifted slightly to move over thecurling rail 25. .The curling rail 25 is a long flat strip of steel andis curved as shown to progressively lift the panel 10 as the cartonmoves forward, thus swinging the panel about its scored side edge. Theforward end of the curling rail is curved and is held in a verticalposition just back of the knife by the upstanding post 26. The oppositeend ofthe rail .is secured to post 27. Intermediate the posts the railhas the twist and curvature to swing the panel 10.through substantially270. Fig. 3 shows the start of the swinging motion of the panel 10.

After panel 10 has sufiiciently raised, the tuck-flap v11 may then startto raise, as shown in Fig. 4. For this purpose, the second curling rail30 mounted on post 31 slips under the tuck-flap and proceeds to swingthe tuckfiap through about 270 in the opposite direction. Rail 30, likerail 25, is thin and smooth and is appropriately curved to progressivelyswing the flap. The forward end of rail 30 may be anchored by a loopingbrace from the floor of the machine, if it is found the forward end isinsufliciently stable. With the two flaps folded back upon the sides ofthe carton, the carton emerges from the righthand end of the machine,Fig. l, and into a stamping machine, not shown. The exposed ends of thepackages within the carton are then stamped and the flaps 10 and 11 arereturned to their original positions and glued together.

According to an important and characteristic feature of this invention,the carton opening mechanism thus far described is enclosed in arectangular hood preferably of lightweight sheet metal having top side35 and side panels 36 and 37. The ends of the hood are preferably closedexcept for windows slightly larger than the cross-sectional size of thecarton to be fed through the machine along path 13-14. To side panels 36and 37 are connected respectively air exhaust and inlet ports 38 and 39,connected near the top edge of the side panels, and, hence,substantially on a level with the cut flaps of the carton to be opened.The exhaust port 38 and inlet 39 are connected to opposite ends of theair pump 40 comprising motor 41, fan blade 42 and filter 43 enclosed inanairtight jacket 44 and communicating through air ducts 45 and 46 toports. Preferably the ducts are attached to the hood through cone-shapedair funnels, as shown.

Importantly, the inlet port 39 is adjacent the front or left end of thehood and delivers a fairly strong blast of air against the flap as itstarts to raise. This blast of air presses the flap firm against thecurling rail and prevents vibration or flutter thereof. When the flap 19passes beyond the center of the air stream from port 39, the airsuddenly flips the panel 10 downward and against the side of the carton.

On the other hand, when tuck-flap 11 raises slightly by the action ofcurling rail 30, the air blast catches under the raised edge of the flapand flips the flap to full, open position against its side of thecarton.

It has been found, further that a portion of the incoming stream of airis deflected downward and around the bottom of the moving carton andserves to effectively float the carton on a film of air to facilitateits forward movement.

According to still another feature of this invention, the exhaust port38 is not directly opposite the inlet port 39 as might be expected.Instead, the exhaust port is to the right or down-stream so that thegeneral direction of air flow through the hood is diagonally across thehood. Such misalignment of the two ports serves the very useful purposeof swinging the flaps 10 and 11 during the opening operations, in amanner which, it has been found, was not effectively performed when thetwo ports were directly opposite each other. It is not understood whythe improved results are caused by the staggered ports, but it isbelieved that the axial or lengthwise component of the air stream servesnot only to propel the carton forwaIdly but to yieldably force the flapsto swing without flutter to their open positions. It has been found thatwith the ports mounted as described, cigarette cartons may be fed intothe machine and opened at the rate of sixty per minute. Heretofore thecartons on such a machine could be opened only at a small fraction ofthis speed.

Furthermore, the lint and dirt is so elfectively removed by the diagonaland circuitous flow of air as to require the cleaning of the rubber orbronze stamps in the stamping machine which follows only once in severalweeks of operation.

While the principles of the invention have been described in connectionwith specific apparatus, it is to be 4 clearly understood that thisdescription is made only by way of example and not as a limitation tothe scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. A machine for opening one side panel of a paper board cartoncomprising in combination a knife, means for propelling said carton intothe knife to sever the end corners and one side corner of said panel,and means for hingedly swinging said panel about the other, uncut, sidecorner of the panel; a hood over the knife and panel swing mechanism;air ports on opposite sides of said hood, and means for moving air fromone port to the other laterally across said carton and swinging panel.

2. A machine for opening one panel of cartons having two overlappingflaps hinged respectively along opposite side edges of said panel, astationary knife for cutting through the end edges as the, carton ispropelled lengthwise into the knife, curling rails for successivelyswinging the flaps about their respective hinges; an elongated hood overthe knife, curling rails and carton-propelling mechanisms, an air pumpwith a filter, said hood having an air inlet port and an air outlet porton opposite sides of the hood and on a level generally with said flaps,said ports communicating respectively with the inlet and outlet openingsof said pump to move air across said flaps and to remove airborne dirt.

3. A machine for opening one side panel of a paper board carton, saidmachine comprising in combination a knife, means for propelling saidcarton into the knife to sever the end corners and one side corner ofsaid panel, and means for lifting and swinging said panel about theuncut side corner of the panel; a hood over the knife and panel-swingingmachanism, air ports on opposite sides of said hood, said air portsbeing in staggered relation with respect to the direction of travel ofcartons through the machine, and means for moving air from one port tothe other laterally across the swinging panel.

4. The machine defined in claim 3 further comprising an air pump and afilter communicating at its inlet and outlet ends, respectively, withsaid two ports for removing dirt and lint from the cartons being cut.

5. A cigarette carton-opening machine comprising means for cuttingcorner edges of one panel and means for folding the panel open; a hoodover the cutting and folding means, and means for moving a stream of airlaterally across the carton and over said panel.

No references cited.

